It's a Quarter After One
by NeitherHaveIWings2Fly
Summary: When it's 1:15 in the morning and you're drunk, sometimes all you need is someone to talk to, as both Puck and Rachel learn. Updated with a final chapter in honor of an upcoming episode!
1. The Friendly Drunk

It's a Quarter After One

AN: I love music. This two-shot (yes, I've progressed past one-shots) is brought to you by Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now". I'm not gonna put the lyrics with this, except for one line that inspired this whole mess. But, trust me, it's a beautiful song that I've been listening to on repeat for two days now. So, here y'all go. BTW, I don't own Glee or "Need You Now". Oh, and I decided that while Puck may be badass, something tells me he'd be a friendly drunk.

_It's a quarter after one_

_I'm a little drunk_

_And I need you now_

_Buzz…buzz…buzz…_

Rachel groggily sat up, grasping for her phone. A glance at the clock showed it to be 1:14 am. Who would call her at this hour?

"Whoever this is, you should know that you have interrupted my REM cycle and I am already greatly displeased with you."

"Damn, Berry, I didn't catch a word of that."

"Noah?"

"What's up?"

"Is there any particular reason that you've decided to contact me in the middle of the night?"

"I'm on your front porch."

"Excuse me?"

"I started going over to Finn's, but then I remembered that he still doesn't like me, and that Quinn's still there, and that would have been a mess. And then, I figured out that I probably shouldn't be driving at all, and then I saw your house."

"I'm coming." Rachel sat up, grabbing a hair tie from her bedside table. Once her hair was pulled up and her slippers were on, she trudged to the front door. Upon opening it, she saw Puck sitting down, half leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey there, Berry!"

"How much did you have to drink?" She asked, pulling him to his feet.

"Um…"

"That much, huh?" She towed him into the house and sat him down on the couch.

"You know what's trippy? You dress like a normal person when you're not at school." Rachel looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a black tank top and red sweat pants.

"You consider pajamas normal dressing? I no longer have any difficulties understanding your ridicule of my wardrobe."

"Most days, Berry, you confuse me. At least drunk your big words are funny." She rolled her eyes and tugged him back up.

"Come on, Noah. Shower, water, then bed. You understand that?"

"Sure." He followed her lead up a set of stairs to a room down the hall. She pushed him in and turned on the light. As she started to close the door, she heard him ask, "Aren't you gonna help me undress?"

"Pig." After a few moments and a few thumps, she heard the shower start. She headed to the kitchen and gathered her supplies: Two bottles of water, a bottle of aspirin, and the spare waste can. She was setting up in the guest room when the water stopped. Waiting by the door, she contemplated covering her eyes, worried that with his attitude and current inebriation he might come out naked. Her fears were nullified when he came back out in his jeans and t-shirt. She silently took his hand and led him to the guest room.

"Aw, not your room, Berry, I'm disappointed."

"Noah, as I have asked you multiple times, please call me Rachel. Unlike you, I prefer my given name." He flopped down on the bed, which he was pleased to find was a double. "There's water and aspirin next to the bed, which I'm sure you'll need in the morning. The trash can is next to the bed. Please don't vomit on the sheets." She turned to leave.

"Rachel?" His voice sounded different. "Can you stay for a bit?" She sighed.

"Sure." It always started that way, didn't it? She took a seat next to where he was laying and then reached over and grabbed a water bottle. "Drink this. So, what was the cause behind your current state?"

"Who says there's a reason?" He asked, before chugging half the bottle.

"Parties tend to be after sporting or social events. Neither of these occurred tonight."

"Always thinking, aren't you?" She stayed silent, waiting for his reason. "Fine, I guess I owe you since I'm in your guest room. I," He paused, "Quinn texted me. She and Finn are talking again."

"He's still not speaking to you?"

"Not a word."

"Have I mentioned how poorly I feel for my involvement in the disclosure? Sometimes my logic tends to get in the way of my reason." She was surprised to hear him laugh.

"That one I got. You can be pretty funny when you're trying. And not using words I'd only hear in a spelling bee." She chuckled back. "Hell, I wanted Finn to know. I'm no deadbeat. That's my kid. But… she said that she's grateful for my help, but she still 'considers' Finn the father."

"Noah…"

"Damn girl won't let me be a father. I guess I don't care if she decides to put her up for adoption, but until then, it's my job!" He held his head, his shouting inducing a headache.

"Shh, you'll hurt yourself." She took the now empty water bottle from him and tossed it into the waste can.

"I lied earlier."

"Hm?"

"The second she texted me, I planned to come here. I knew you'd listen, because while you may make me want to light myself on fire at times, you're just crazy enough to believe the best in people."

"Was that a complement?"

"Yep. You believed in me during our kinda dating thing and you didn't yell at me or ignore me after the whole baby thing. And you were nice to Quinn. And, I heard about that one time you slapped Finn, and as much as he's my boy, he deserved it. You do the right thing, Rachel." The speech was touching to Rachel, even though he slurred half the words and yawned halfway through.

"Go to sleep, Noah."

"While I'm awake, why don't I have one of your fathers in my face?"

"Every now and then they take a weekend away. I stay home and watch West Side Story and eat ice cream."  
"Cool." He rolled over and was quiet for a bit. Rachel didn't know if she should leave or not. She moved a little, and was startled when he spoke again. "How do you know how to handle drunk people?"

"A few summers ago, my uncle died." She shifted so she was lying down as well. "My two cousins and my aunt came to stay with us. My cousin Abigail was 16, and Nathan was 19. He came in drunk and she took care of him. It wasn't her first time having to do so. That summer we had to take care of him a lot."

"Well thanks." They stayed there in silence. After a bit, Rachel heard his breathing even out. She sat up to take a look at him. When he was sleeping, he looked softer. Without thinking, she leaned over and kissed him gently on the forehead. She almost stood up, but then she chose to lie back down.

When he awoke the next morning, Puck reached for the water and aspirin without looking. After downing a few pills, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see a sleeping Rachel Berry next to him. He had faint memories of talking to her, but he hadn't expected her to stay with him. He blamed the hangover when his hand reached out and gently traced her cheek. She was pretty when she wasn't freaking out over something. He decided to head home, since his mom was probably concerned about where he was. He slowly made his way out of the room and downstairs. Not wanting to seem like an ungrateful jerk, he headed to the kitchen to leave her a note. He laughed when he saw there was a note waiting for him.

_Good morning, Noah. I figured you'd leave before I was up. It's fine. I should have had you call your mother last night. Take some aspirin, if you haven't already, and sleep this weekend. And, if you ever need to talk, feel free to call or come over. Drunk or sober. :-) __Rachel_

He smiled. Maybe, just maybe, he'd break his asshole streak and be friends with Rachel Berry.

AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed Drunk Noah as much as I have. There will be a part two to this, in which our own Rachel Berry will be drunk. Trust me, you don't want to miss it!! It'll be up probably sometime Sunday, at latest Monday.


	2. The Nervous Drunk

AN: I am so sorry I didn't update as planned. Packing stinks. Anyways, wow, I have never had this much of a response to one of my stories. It made my week, and since I'm all emotional about going back to school, it was quite the cheer-up! So, I'm really excited about this chapter. I've been waiting to write Drunk Rachel for a while. Hope you enjoy it!

Puck was facing quite a conundrum. He had played Call of Duty for the past hour, and it was probably time to shut it down, but he could push through another hour if he wanted to. He was presented with another problem when he realized he had just used conundrum correctly, meaning that he was picking up on Rachel Berry's freaky vocabulary. This was a bad sign.

_*Sweet Caroline…good times never seemed so good…*_

"It's 1:16 in the morning and Rachel Berry is calling me… this oughta be good." He muttered to himself and answered his phone. "This better be a booty call."

"Noah?"

"What's up, Rachel?"

"Remember our recent incident with your inebriation?"

"Yes…"

"I'm on your front porch." No way. No friggin way!! Rachel Berry was drunk.

"Hold on." Puck hung up his phone and sprinted to the door. He opened the door and saw her with her forehead against the doorframe. "Well, hi there."

"This is bad, Noah. I… I'm drunk!!"

"This wasn't on purpose?"

"Of course not!" She looked completely panicked. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in. He led her to the kitchen and started pulling out water bottles. Berry was a lightweight and was going to need all the help she could get.

"So…"

"I went to a party that my vocal coach was having. She has these for her pupils and…well some of the kids are nice. We were all hanging out and I was thirsty and got some punch…"

"You did not drink the punch! How do you not know this?"

"I figured I was in a safe place with an adult and that no one would spike it. I had a whole cup and a little more before someone told me. I tried to throw up but I don't have a gag reflex and now I'm dizzy and floaty and… I thought being drunk was supposed to be fun!" Puck laughed.

"I think it's all a matter of the attitude you enter with." She smacked her head down on the table.

"Never again. Ever."

"So, why aren't you curled up in your nice, star covered room?"

"I can't let my fathers see me like this. I'm all they have and it would ruin any trust they have in me."

"Where do they think you are?"

"I told them I was sleeping over at one of the girls' houses and then asked one of them to drive me here. They, of course, think that this is my house, but given that we're not actually friends they're unlikely to face this situation again, so I had minimal qualms of lying to them."

"Drunk and she still uses these words…" He muttered. "Come on, pop star, shower time." She followed him, slightly wobbling as she made her way up the stairs. He led her to the bathroom and sat her down on the edge of the bath. "Sit here. Wait. Understand?"

"My current situation gives you no right to be condescending!" She yelled to him as he went down the hall. He grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweats and made his way back. About halfway down the hall he heard a thump. He about busted a gut when he re-entered the bathroom and she was on the floor, pouting. "Noah Puckerman, don't you laugh at me!"

"Yeah, that ship sailed. Call me when you need help down the hall… unless you'd like help showering?" He leered at her.

"Out." He headed down to his room, knowing it would be a while. Chicks took _forever_ to get ready, and given that Rachel was wasted, he could probably get in some shut-eye before she was done.

It was kind of surprising that she had decided to come here. Though, they had been talking more since he showed up at her house. He'd never been friends with a chick without wanting, you know, something else, so this was all new territory. Not that he didn't want something else. Wait, whoa, where did that come from? Left field did not even begin to cover it. When did this become a thing?

"Noah?" Puck came back from his thoughts and realized she was calling him back to the bathroom. She was standing in the doorway with his clothes on, and Puck got a funny feeling in his stomach, which he was sure he'd get back to later. Without saying anything, he picked her up and carried her to the guest room. "Noah! I am perfectly capable of walking down the hallway."

"My bathroom floor says otherwise." He sat her down on the guest bed and, deciding not to wait for an invitation, sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a little while, though Puck almost laughed again when it took her forever to find a comfortable position. Finally, she spoke.

"I talked to Finn today."

"So it's gonna be another deep confessions night."

"Well, considering I probably won't remember this in the morning, yes. It wasn't a long conversation or anything, but I came to an amazing conclusion." Puck rolled his eyes.

"And what would that be?"

"I don't like Finn anymore. He was talking and there was absolutely nothing. And, I'm quite happy about it." This was not the turn that Puck had expected the conversation to take.

"Well, this has been a pretty big day for you."

"Noah, can you do me a favor?" She was probably going to ask him to leave or to hide her indiscretion or some other shit… "Don't tell me that I told you what I'm about to say."

"In English?"

"I'm going to tell you something and then I'm going to forget it, and I would like you to use this information however you see fit."

"Okay, Berry, shoot." She stopped for a moment, clearly running something through her complicated little head, took a deep breath, and then continued.

"I have feelings for you and I'm almost certain you have feelings for me. I believe that my current inebriation has led me to have the overwhelming confidence to tell you this. I wouldn't tell you otherwise, because though I exude poise and self-esteem, I've always been a bit nervous when it comes to males. Now, if I am completely incorrect about this, you may consider this a complement to your already inflated ego, though I ask you to keep the mocking to a minimum. If, however, I'm right, then do something about it." She smiled at him, the same smile she gave after one of her musical rants. Puck smiled back.

"Do something?"

"I knew it."

"I said nothing about if you were right…"

"But you're seeking your course of action…"

"And you know what they say…"

"Therefore meaning that you would like to…"

"About when you assume?"

"Pursue a relationship with me…" He shut her up by kissing her. Not his usual, convincing a girl, drive you crazy kiss, but a simple one. The "seduce the drunk girl" ship had kind of sailed after Quinn. "That." she said, somewhat dazed. "You should do that."

"Sure thing, Rachel."

They didn't talk about anything else of note that night. Rachel drank her water and slowly fell asleep, muttering about something called Ragtime and its untimely demise. Puck stayed up just a bit longer, hoping that Rachel kept to her word and forgot what she had said tonight. It would make it all the more worth it to see the surprise on her face.

AN: So, I hope you all enjoyed Drunk Rachel. I modeled her after a close friend of mine who we all agreed would be a panicky drunk. I'm moving back into my dorm tomorrow, but after that I have a few ideas of stories to go between these few chapters, giving a little bit of the friendship buildup, because I honestly didn't plan to end this way. It started writing itself, and it wanted these two crazy kids to have a relationship. Thanks for reading!


	3. The Sober Truth

**AN:Yes, it has been a year since I wrote this. That fact alone is daunting. I decided it was time for one final chapter, however, since, if you haven't heard the news, Puck and Rachel are singing Need You Now on Glee! In the wise words of Rachel, "I'm a little bit psychic." If you haven't heard the preview yet, take a moment and go find it. I was so excited that I opened a Word file and started typing immediately. **

**This is a major throwback to season 1, since I wrote the original story then, so to remind any old or new readers (who I still love dearly), this is post-Sectionals the first time around. I can't wait to re-read this story in a few weeks while playing the Glee version of Need You Now! Enjoy!**

It had been one week since Rachel had come over to Puck's house drunk. True to her word, she had forgotten the events of the night, because, in Puck's words, "she was a freakin' lightweight." Rachel continued on under the impression that she had simply shown up at Noah's house, taken a shower, and passed out.

Puck knew the truth, though. And now, he had the daunting (damn those Rachel Berry words) task of letting her know that he had feelings for her, too. She had insisted that he simply kiss her, but Puck knew that Rachel deserved more than that. She was the type of girl who wanted to be wooed and all that shit.

So, this past week had been just that, a Week of Woo. Each day at school, he had joined her in the choir room or the auditorium for lunch. When Schue had asked for a volunteer for the next lead male part, Puck had shocked the club by stepping up. He walked her to classes when he could, and he even stole a slushie from Karofsky's locker so that he couldn't get Rachel.

Rachel was entirely baffled at this recent development in Noah Puckerman's behavior. She knew that they had become somewhat friends after Noah's drunken incident, but what had changed after her visit to his house? He seemed to be a completely different person. Nothing had changed regarding Quinn and Finn, their reconciliation had been inevitable after Quinn's first attempts to re-connect with Finn. There seemed to be no clues to inform Rachel.

While Noah had seemed to follow her around every moment that week at school, he was nowhere to be found when Rachel headed for her locker to collect her books at the end of the day. It seemed that his bizarre behavior had no bounds. As she opened her locker, Rachel was stunned to find a red rose and a note beside her belongings. She opened the note to find it contained only a time. _1:15 a.m._ What was that supposed to mean? Was he intending to arrive at her house inebriated again?

Rachel was unable to focus for the whole of the evening. Her multiple calls and text messages to Noah had gone unanswered, giving her no further information on whatever he seemed to have planned tonight… tomorrow morning, technically. Her fathers had noticed her distracted behavior and had asked her multiple times if she was feeling well, if she was overwhelmed with school and Glee, and if they needed to call her therapist. She had assured them that she was fine, of course, and that perhaps they could watch a movie as a family. To her credit, Rachel knew that once Liza Minnelli was onscreen, her fathers would no longer notice her agitation.

_Caberet_ came to a close, and still Rachel had two hours and twelve minutes to fill. She bid her fathers goodnight, and settled in with her iPod to listen through the new London concert recording of Chess, which would occupy her for approximately 126 minutes.

The clock read 1:09 and the last strains of Anthem (Reprise) played through Rachel's earbuds. In six minutes, she would finally have the answer to what had been controlling her mind. Was this simply going to be another moment in their pattern? Was he even going to show up or was there something else that was happening? Had she missed some vital information in her quest to understand the note? Why wasn't it 1:15 yet? And in the midst of all this, there was the slightest feeling of butterflies flapping away in her stomach. She wouldn't deny that her feelings for Noah had developed and grown since their first dating attempt. Their subsequent meetings and friendship had been quite educational to how he had changed, and yet how he was the same boy he had ever been. Would tonight possibly lead to a change in their relationship? Did he mean to…

Rachel's phone buzzed, and she almost panicked at the fact that it was, finally, 1:15 and she had a text message from Noah. A text. Was that what this lead-up had been? Had she possibly overthought what his note had meant? With mild trepidation, Rachel opened her phone.

_I've decided which song I should sing lead on in Glee. Want to hear?_

In a rather uncharacteristic moment, Rachel's response was only one word. _Yes._

_I'm on your front porch._ She took off down the hallway, making sure to tread lightly near her fathers' door. They slept like rocks, but this didn't seem to be the moment to test that fact. As she opened the door, she heard the gentle chords of a song beginning. There was Noah, leaning against her porch rail with his guitar.

_Another shot of whiskey  
Can't stop looking at the door  
Wishing you'd come sweeping  
In the way you did before_

And I wonder if I ever cross your mind  
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one  
I'm a little drunk  
And I need you now  
Said I wouldn't call  
But I've lost all control  
And I need you now

And I don't know how I can do without  
I just need you now

Puck let the last chord linger, taking a moment to check out the smile on Rachel's face.

"You're a wonderful singer, Noah. I have no doubt that this song will fit your vocal range accordingly, and Mr. Schue would be a fool not to use this in a performance setting."

"Thanks, Rachel, but that's not really what I'm thinking about right now." He eased his guitar onto the porch and in two quick strides was face to face with her. "I'm thinking about that smile and slight blush you get every time I sing to you. I'm thinking about how you never judge me, even after all the shit I've done." He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. "I'm thinking about how, even when I was drunk, I knew that I needed you." Their foreheads were touching now, and he could hear her breath catch as his lips moved to only a hair's breath away from hers. "I'm thinking about singing with you, eating lunch with you, laughing with you, and following your drunk commands."

"Commands?" She whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment. Instead of answering, he closed the last distance between them, kissing her as intensely as he had wanted to last week. When he finally drew back from her, she pulled him lightly to the porch swing, where she then curled up against his side. "Commands?" She asked again.

"You may be a nervous drunk, but you also had, as you put it, overwhelming confidence to share some information." She buried her face in his shoulder.

"Never again."

"You seemed to like the results a second ago." She had to cede that point, but instead of letting him inflate his ego, she quieted him in the best way she knew how.

They spent a few more minutes together before admitting that sleep was necessary. Puck left Rachel with a breath stealing kiss and a promise to see her later that day. Rachel tiptoed back to her room, and as she settled in under her covers, she gently sang herself to sleep.

_And I don't know how_

_I can do without_

_I just need you now._

**AN: Hope you enjoyed it. For those of you that have read my other works, I promise that I intend to finish Next to Normal, furnished with the greatest apologizes about computer crashes and college classes. For now, I'm glad to have written this final chapter, and I'm psyched for the true Glee version of Need You Now. Thank you for reading!**


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